Combine Catwalk Makes Window Cleaning Easier
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During the fall harvest of 2019, Saskatchewan farmer Ron Silvernagle slipped and fell from the header of his Deere combine as he was cleaning the front cab window. As he lay in the hospital recovering from several cracked and broken ribs, the 80-year-old decided to do something about the predicament grain farmers routinely face.
“Most Deere combines have a step to get up on the pickup header but I’m kind of short and have to let go of the railing to reach it,” says Silvernagle. “Even when you get up there, it’s slippery. This time the pedal hooked the back of my leg and I ended up on the ground.”
After his hospital stay, he designed and built a metal walkway with guardrails that mounts to the combine frame at the front of the cab.
The walkway is heavy-duty mesh and stretches from the cab door around to the right-side window. Silvernagle used 1 1/2-in. square tubing for the vertical posts and 3/4 in. for the railings. The toe-kick is 2 in. high, and he installed chains on either end of the platform for easy access.
“You come out of the cab, step on the walkabout and everything’s level. The top railing is 3 ft. high, and there’s about 2 ft. of space in front to stand on when cleaning the windows. The railings don’t interfere with viewing the swath either.”
Silvernagle built his fall protection for all three of the family’s combines and estimates the total cost of material at around $1,000 at the time. He believes combine manufacturers could easily build and incorporate this type of system into their equipment for much less cost.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ron Silvernagle, 301 7th Ave. W, Biggar, Sask., Canada S0K 0M0 (ph 306-948-2080).
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Combine Catwalk Makes Window Cleaning Easier COMBINES Accessories During the fall harvest of 2019 Saskatchewan farmer Ron Silvernagle slipped and fell from the header of his Deere combine as he was cleaning the front cab window As he lay in the hospital recovering from several cracked and broken ribs the 80-year-old decided to do something about the predicament grain farmers routinely face “Most Deere combines have a step to get up on the pickup header but I’m kind of short and have to let go of the railing to reach it ” says Silvernagle “Even when you get up there it’s slippery This time the pedal hooked the back of my leg and I ended up on the ground ” After his hospital stay he designed and built a metal walkway with guardrails that mounts to the combine frame at the front of the cab The walkway is heavy-duty mesh and stretches from the cab door around to the right-side window Silvernagle used 1 1/2-in square tubing for the vertical posts and 3/4 in for the railings The toe-kick is 2 in high and he installed chains on either end of the platform for easy access “You come out of the cab step on the walkabout and everything’s level The top railing is 3 ft high and there’s about 2 ft of space in front to stand on when cleaning the windows The railings don’t interfere with viewing the swath either ” Silvernagle built his fall protection for all three of the family’s combines and estimates the total cost of material at around $1 000 at the time He believes combine manufacturers could easily build and incorporate this type of system into their equipment for much less cost Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Ron Silvernagle 301 7th Ave W Biggar Sask Canada S0K 0M0 ph 306-948-2080
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